Showing posts with label 2014. Show all posts

December 15--Coffee Chat

We had our Coffee Chat yesterday and many of our regular members attended. Some of our favorites from the 2014 book selections included:

Drop Dead Healthy	Jacobs, A.J.
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald	Fowler, Therese Anne
Home Front	Hannah, Kristin
Good Dream	VanLiere, Donna
Wild	Strayed, Cheryl
Where We Belong	Giffin, Emily

Some of the books we didn't read for book group but were recommended by members included:

The Book Thief	Zusak, Markus
Century Trilogy	Follett, Ken
Fever Tree	McVeigh, Jennifer
Lei Crime series (on order @ LME Library)	Neal, Toby
The Martian	Weir, Andy

Our next book group meeting will be January 26, 2015 at 3pm in the Turner Room. All are welcome! We will be discussing The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin.

Summary: When his most prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, is stolen, bookstore owner A. J. Fikry begins isolating himself from his friends, family and associates before receiving a mysterious package that compels him to remake his life. Books are available at the LME Library desk. Discussion sheets can be picked up from the library or are avialable online.

November 24th meeting

At our November 24th meeting, we discussed Where We Belong by Emily Giffin. Refreshments included pecan pie, iced pumpkin coffee cake, and cream cheese filled pumpkin snickerdoodles. We also choose the rest of our books for next year (please see 2015 Titles post).

IMRF Book Club

The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) has selected Drop Dead Healthy by A.J. Jacobs as their fifth pick for the IMRF Online Book Club. Our book club read that back in February 2014 and the link to our posts is here.

If you'd like to participate in the IMRF Online Book Club, the link is http://www.imrf.org/retirees/book_club/imrfbookclub_main.html Feedback due date is April 3, 2015.

November 24 - Where We Belong

Bookgroup met on Octgober 27th and we assembled in the meeting room so that we could watch some video book reviews for possible 2015 selections.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles was discussed and we had fruit in puff pastries and crackers with cream cheese and hot pepper jelly.

Next meeting we will finish choosing fiction titles for 2015 and discuss Where We Belong by Emily Giffin. Copies of the book are available at the LME Library. Discussion sheets can be picked up or are available online.

Resources for Book Lovers

Still Alice - book to movie

Our book group read Still Alice, by Lisa Genova in October 2013. We really enjoyed it, and I just saw that a movie adaption premiered this week at the Toronto International Film Festival. Julianne Moore stars as Alice with Alec Baldwin as her husband and Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth and Hunter Parrish as their three grown children. For more information see http://www.earlyword.com/2014/09/10/still-alice-movie-getting-raves/

September 29 - Wild by Cheryl Strayed

At our August 25th book group, we discussed Someone by Alice McDermott. Although everyone understood the writing style chosen by the author, most felt it was distracting and made the reader less inclined to connect with the characters. For treats we had Beth's favorite pasta salad, tomato/pepper/onion salad, and veggies with dip.

In September, we will be reading Wild: From lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. We will meet at 3pm in the Turner Room on September 29th. Discussion sheets are available in the library or online. In addition, the book can be discussed in the online book forum for LME Library on GoodReads.

Summary: In the wake of her mother's death, Cheryl Strayed's family scattered and her marriage was destroyed. Four years later, twenty-six years old with nothing to lose, Cheryl made the decision to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert to Washington State - alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker and the trail was little more than an idea. But it was a promise of piecing back together a life that had come undone.

August 25th meeting - Someone by Alice McDermott

Our July 28th meeting for Donna VanLiere's Good Dream had 6 in attendance. All liked the book and we had dream bars (modified with oatmeal instead of coconut) and watermelon.

Next meeting is Monday, August 25th at 3pm in the Turner Room. We are reading Someone by Alice McDermott. Summary: "The story of a Brooklyn-born woman's life - her family, her neighborhood, her daily trials and triumphs - from childhood to old age"--Provided by the publisher.

Discussion sheets are available in the library or online. In addition, the book can be discussed in the online book forum for LME Library on GoodReads.

Next meeting July 21 - Good Dream

Our next bookgroup meeting will by Monday, July 21st at 3pm in the Turner Room. PLEASE NOTE THE DATE CHANGE. We originally planned to meet July 28th but we changed the date due to a conflict. We will be discussing Good Dream by Donna Van Liere. The discussion sheets are available in the library or online.
Book Summary: Denounced by her 1950 Tennessee community as an old maid, 30-something Ivorie Walker hides her loneliness and grief over her mother's death behind good-humored independence before advocating on behalf of a feral boy who has been stealing vegetables from her garden.

June 30 - Home Front

At our June 30th meeting, we discussed Home Front by Kristin Hannah. Members enjoyed discussing the book and snacking on creme horns, ginger snaps and fruit. The discussion sheets were available online.

Power of Habit - May 19

Today's book discussion was the Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. We had "Break the Sugar Habit" Strawberry Muffins and Habit Forming Shrimp Dip for refreshments.

The next book for discussion is Home Front by Kristin Hannah. "An intimate look at the inner landscape of a disintegrating marriage and a dramatic exploration of the price of war on a single American family, HOME FRONT is a provocative and timely portrait of hope, honor, loss, forgiveness, and the elusive nature of love." Copies are ready for pickup at the LME Library. The book can be discussed online through Good Reads or at the library on Monday, June 30 at 3pm in the Turner Room. The discussion sheet is also available in the library or online.

Burgess Boys-recipes

We had five at our Burgess Boys discussion on April 28th. It was a great discussion, and the weather held off until well after the meeting ended. (See WEEK TV's "Storms may be to blame for train derailment" news article online.)

The recipes for this month focused on Maine. We had the World's Best Maine Woopie Pies and Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread (the healthy version).

Next book will be the Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. In addition to the copies ready for pickup at the LME Library, it is also available through both of our ebook collections--ADML and eReadIL. The book can be discussed online through Good Reads or at the library on Monday, May 19 at 3pm in the Turner Room. The discussion sheet is also available in the library or online.

April 28 - Burgess Boys

Our last book club meeting was March 31 when we discussed Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler. For refreshments we had ginger ale, mini chocolate croissants, berries and crostini.

Our next book will meet April 28th at 3pm in the Turner Room. Our book is Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout. Discussion sheets are available in the library and online. Please join us!

Book Club Infographic March 2014

BookBrowse has this great Infographic on book club statistics that they just released. I thought it was interesting that today's book club members tend to read some non-fiction and seem to like reading guides--both of which our club loves!

Our next meeting is Monday, March 31st at 3pm in the Turner Room--please join us!

March 2014--Z by Therese Fowler

Our book group meet on 2/24 and discussed Drop Dead Healthy by A.J. Jacobs. We had healthy snacks and everyone enjoyed the book.

Our next read is Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler. Discussion sheets are available in the library. The online sheet will be available shortly. We'll meet on March 31 at 3pm in the Turner Room.

Other Book Club Picks

I was just reading this article about the top book club picks as determined by bookmovement.com and noticed that our book club has already read three of the top 10! All of these books (even the rising stars) are part of the LME Library collection. To check for available, search the library catalog online at rsacat.alsrsa.org/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/57/49?user_id=LILLIE-M-EWEB

The following were the most popular book club books during January based on votes from more than 100,000 book club readers from more than 39,000 book clubs registered at Bookmovement.com:

1. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam)
2. The Goldfinch: A Novel by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown)
3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Knopf)
4. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline (Morrow)
5. The Light Between Oceans: A Novel by M.L. Stedman (Scribner)
6. And the Mountains Echoed: A Novel by (Riverhead)
7. Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel by Maria Semple (Little, Brown)
8. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Crown)
9. The Kitchen House: A Novel by Kathleen Grissom (Touchstone)
10. The Language of Flowers: A Novel by Vanessa Diffenbaugh (Ballantine)

Rising Stars:
The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan (Ecco)
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (Viking)

February 2014 - Drop Dead Healthy

Our next book group meeting will be Monday, February 24 at 3pm in the LME Library Turner Room. Our book selection is Drop Dead Healthy by A.J. Jacobs. The discussion sheet is available online. All are welcome to attend!

Here is a short summary:
"Drop Dead Healthy teems with hilarity and warmth and pushes our cultures assumptions about and obsessions with what makes good health, allowing the reader to reflect on his or her own health, body, and eventual mortality."

January 2014 - Storyteller

Our January meeting was held on January 27 in the Turner Room at 3pm. Due to the extreme cold and related weather issues, we had a small but feisty group!

We discussed the Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. Discussion sheets were available online. Unfortunately, my oven blew an element on Saturday, so there was no fresh baked artisan bread ;-( That's OK--we'll have some next time!

November 25th - Kitchen House

At our November 25th meeting we discussed Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. Overall, we thought the book was well written. However, the subject was difficult and some of us could have used more hopefulness in the story. The recipes choices were Belle's Molasses Cake and Saltine Walnut Toffee.

We also picked our books for 2014. Remember that anyone can join a book discussion--we meet monthly at 3pm in the Turner Room. Here's our list:

“Talk About a Good Book” Book Club Discussion Group

Usually meets last Monday of the month at 3 pm in Turner Room

2014 (Our 11^th year!)

January 27	Storyteller	Picoult, Jodi
February 24	Drop Dead Healthy	Jacobs, A.J.
March 31	Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald	Fowler, Therese Anne
April 28	Burgess Boys	Strout, Elizabeth
May 19*	Power of Habit	Duhigg, Charles
June 30	Home Front	Hannah, Kristin
July 28	Good Dream	VanLiere, Donna
August 25	Someone	McDermott, Alice
September 29	Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail	Strayed, Cheryl
October 27	Rules of Civility	Towles, Amor
November 24	Where We Belong	Giffin, Emily
December 15^th @ 3pm —Coffee Chat about your favorite books of 2014

*Please note: Due to a holiday, our May meeting will be a week earlier than usual.

2014 Bookgroup Titles-Partial List

Wondering how we pick the books for bookgroup? Well, it's a group effort! Beth pulls together potential titles throughout the year from reading lists and suggestions from the group. Since we have several members who prefer large print or audio, she then checks to make sure that the title is available in these formats. If a title does not have multiple formats, we don't use it for bookgroup.

In October, the list is complete and sheets are made up with all the potential titles. We review half the books at the October bookgroup meeting and vote on our favorites. The other half is reviewed the same way in November.

So far, we've looked at some fiction titles. Next month, we will review the rest of the fiction and choose the non-fiction. Do we have any titles chosen yet? You bet! We still need to choose at least 4 more fiction titles and 3 non-fiction books but here are 5 fiction books we will be reading next year:

Home Front by Kristin Hannah
Someone: A Novel by Alice McDermott
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
Where We Belong by Emily Giffin
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler

Once we have all the books chosen, we'll post them to this blog. Watch for the list in early December and don't forget to talk about a good book!

“Talk About a Good Book” Book Club Discussion Group

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